The law seeks to keep books with graphic sexual content out of school libraries. Known as Senate File 496, the law is often referred to by many news outlets and critics as a "book ban," but Drew Zahn of The FAMiLY Leader says it's not a book ban.
"You can still read the book, you can still own the book, you can purchase the book, and the publishers can publish the book, it's not banned," says Zahn, Director of Communications for The FAMiLY Leader. "It’s a question of whether the public taxpayer dollars should be used to make these books available for free to children through our school system."
Zahn adds that "any school librarian with an ounce of common sense or moral decency" should not have these books.
"Books that depict sexual acts between minors, books that depict graphically sexual abuse of minors or grooming behavior of sexual predators towards minors and depict these things in a positive light, have no business in our school libraries," says Zahn.
Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher, a Joe Biden appointee, again temporarily blocked the part of the law that prohibits school libraries and classrooms from carrying books that depict sex acts. Locher is the same judge that has previously ruled against the law and was later overturned by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
As explained by The Associated Press, one of the news outlets calling this a "book ban," the appellate court told the lower court that it failed to apply the correct analysis in determining whether to temporarily block the law.
In his decision Tuesday, Locher stated that the unconstitutional applications of the book restrictions "far exceed" the constitutional applications "under both legal standards the Court believes are applicable."
Expecting an appeal, Locher also included an alternative standard through which the restrictions could be considered constitutional. However, he added he does not believe it should be applied in this case.
The fight continues
"I think an appeal is inevitable," says Zahn. "Iowa's attorney general is consistent and dedicated to protecting children."
Attorney General Brenna Bird did issue a statement saying that, as a mother, she knows how important it is to keep schools a safe place for kids to learn and grow.
"Parents shouldn't have to worry about what materials their kids have access to when they're not around," said Bird. "This commonsense law makes certain that the books kids have access to in school classrooms and libraries are age-appropriate. I'm going to keep on fighting to uphold our law that protects schoolchildren and parental rights."
